I've also included a couple of, oh let's just call them bonus tracks which are available if you grab the whole album at once. It was a fun little experiment and I'm so glad it's over and done with. Completing just one song a month seemed like such small potatoes but damn if I wasn't getting them done right at the last second almost each and every time. Says a lot more about me than the task itself. Anyways, now that all is said and done regarding this release, I'll say just a few words about each tune and why it got chosen.

JANUARY: GOLDEN PALOMINOS - LITTLE SUICIDES

I've been wanting to do some kind of version of this song ever since it originally started haunting my emotions in 1995. At first, I was gonna keep it heavy for the entirety of the song but keeping it subdued until it explodes in the middle seemed more effective.

FEBRUARY: DEVO - RACE OF DOOM

From the often-overlooked album NEW TRADITIONALISTS, I don't think I ever got through one listen of this song without thinking "a slow, doomy, industrial-tinged version of this song would be so fun". I made my own wish come true! Self-fulfilling genie.

MARCH: NICK DRAKE - BLACK EYED DOG

This song is an absolute paradox. For something that sounds so lovely and uplifting, you'd never guess it was one of the last things he recorded shortly before his untimely death, not to mention about being literally hounded by severe depression. The black metal slant seemed appropriate.

APRIL: TEARS FOR FEARS - START OF THE BREAKDOWN

SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR is my absolute favourite album of all time. But everything off that album seemed either too familiar or too big to attempt, so I went with something off THE HURTING (also an amazing album). Basically the same approach as LITTLE SUICIDES. Four songs in and I'm already copping out! Also, the first of many to feature an unintentional British accent.

MAY: THE JESUS LIZARD - GLAMOROUS

I remember listening to a live version of this song way back when and my friend/bandmate commented that "the singer doesn't even sound human! He sounds like an animal!". I agreed enthusiastically before realizing that this was not meant to be complimentary. Funnily enough, he wasn't my bandmate for much longer after that.

JUNE: THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT - EYE IN THE SKY

This used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid. Again, the same approach as JANUARY and APRIL. One of my templates, apparently.

JULY: LONG FIN KILLIE - HOLLYWOOD GEM

No one really sounded quite like these guys which is one reason I think they ultimately slipped through the cracks and went unnoticed. They put out three fantastic albums during the 90s. Their music is much prettier than my rotten take on it.

AUGUST: SKINNY PUPPY - SPASMOLYTIC

My favourite band since I first heard them in the 9th grade. I remember listening to the beginning of TOO DARK PARK for the first time and popping the tape out about 20 seconds in because I was sure it was being eaten (I was a little bit in over my thrash metal addled head). This song basically has blast beats in it (sort of) so a black/death version seemed like the way to go.

SEPTEMBER: TESTAMENT - THE BALLAD

I basically fucked this month off. I had a couple of other bands in mind to feature but ultimately the one-song-per-month schedule got the better of me. So I took this intro to a TESTAMENT song (an amazing piece of music that goes by way too fast and ultimately gives way to a pretty-ok but not nearly as amazing song) and wanked over it. Done.

OCTOBER: SYD BARRETT - OPEL

SYD BARRETT has always been a favourite of mine and a constant source of fascination (even though I'm convinced that much of what is written about him ranges from gross exaggeration to complete fabrication). So weird that this song, one of his absolute post-Pink Floyd best, is an outtake that sat rotting in a box well after he'd stopped playing music. More grist for the Barrett-Bullshit mill. The British accent is back on this one.

NOVEMBER: KILLING JOKE - LET'S ALL GO (TO THE FIRE DANCES)

My very favourite KILLING JOKE song off my very favourite KILLING JOKE album. I recorded this and SONG AND DANCE at the same time because I couldn't decide between the two. This one seemed a little better. So SONG AND DANCE was relegated to the "bonus tracks". More British accents.

My favourite Christmas carol (it has to be the HARRY SIMEONE version though - that's the album my parents owned and played every year as we would decorate the tree) and one of REIGN IN BLOOD's finest (like every song on that album isn't a 'finest') "PIECE BY PIECE" tacked onto the end (so chosen because it's short and has no guitar leads).

BONUS: SALVADOR DREAM - MOVE ON

A sort of shoegazing version of HELMET from Vancouver, BC. I loved them back in high school. No one else did. Covering this song could be seen as the ultimate act of gratuitous self indulgence. The same could be said for this entire album. Actually, now that I think about it, a better name would have been 12 ACTS OF GRATUITOUS SELF INDULGENCE.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Here's a new EP I've had in the works for a little while now. No physical copies will exist for this release. Digital only. It's free so please grab it, enjoy it and maybe spread the word on it a little bit. All the drums were recorded with my smart phone. How many one-man drone/doom projects can say that, huh?

Hey, speaking of spreading the word, some fine folks have already started doing just that! Within days of the thing coming out and without my doing the usual pestering/begging deal, no less. A very cool weirdo-metal blog called ARCHIV HATE. They've also featured MERDARAHTA and TOPON DAS releases recently so it makes sense that I'd be included as a point of interest for them but STILL - thanks dudes! The post is right HERE!

My internet buddy JOSH HAUN has honoured me with a fantastic summary/analysis of all things I DIE SMILING. He is the one and only contributor to one of my favourite music blogs - THAT'S HOW KIDS DIE and he tears it up with the words and the sentences and observations and whatnot. Once you're done reading the TSTAT piece from top to bottom, check out his piece on the lesser-enjoyed portion of METALLICA's discography (a series he's doing in collaboration with Jordan Campbell of LAST RITES). He's assured me that LULU will not be covered, which actually lets me down a little since it's an album I genuinely enjoy/am intrigued by (parts of it, at least, for I AM THE TABLE).

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Just got back from a terrific show. 2 local (to Ottawa) bands ripped it up this snowy Saturday evening. CRUSADES and ALASKAN, both of whom have brand new albums out. Check em both out, you may or may not be disappointed! I mean, how the hell do I know what floats your guys's's boats????

2 new reviews of I DIE SMILING have come through. The first comes via LAST RITES. This review initially left me scratching my head but I've come to decide that it's pretty great. I mean, this in particular - "This is self-indulgent sound made for Neutron and Neutron alone to enjoy"....I can't exactly argue with that! Good call, Mr. So-and-so! Good call (I just wish I knew who the hell Luke was!?!?). Anyways, here's the review in question (about halfway down the page): CLICK HERE

The next is featured on DESTROY THE BRAIN! and is, by far, my favourite review so far. The diamond in the rough for me has to be a breakdown of some of the song titles: "Sent Back Dead From Pepsi Part IV (Fucking really, dude?)" I know, I know! Again, I'm not arguing!!! I won't for a second deny the ridiculousness of that title! The thing is, I think music in general (and metal in particular) could stand to be a little more ridiculous. Like the other night, I was scrolling through pictures of NEUROSIS on LASTFM and it's like - Hey fellas, how bout a smile? NEVER THE LESS, the bottom line is this: DESTROY THE BRAIN! was one of many blogs to which I sent out my own personally prepared press-releases and they came through (where doing absolutely nothing would have been infinitely easier). I can't respect that enough. I'm also a huge fan of tearing things I strongly dislike a new asshole so it's not as if I don't get it. Here it is. Enjoy! CLICK HERE

This
is self-indulgent sound made for Neutron and Neutron alone to enjoy -
See more at:
http://lastrit.es/articles/694/four-to-score#sthash.gqjINAq3.dpuf

This
is self-indulgent sound made for Neutron and Neutron alone to enjoy -
See more at:
http://lastrit.es/articles/694/four-to-score#sthash.gqjINAq3.dpuf

This
is self-indulgent sound made for Neutron and Neutron alone to enjoy -
See more at:
http://lastrit.es/articles/694/four-to-score#sthash.gqjINAq3.dpuf

Getting back to music by people other than myself - There's this band PORCH that I used to LOVE back in my last year of high school. Fronted by a delightfully spastic guitarist named TODD HUTH (he was a member of PRIMUS during their early, early days), the band released one self-titled album of razor-sharp noise rock that was right up my JESUS LIZARD/SLINT/SHUDDER TO THINK/BIG BLACK/UNSANE loving alley. They seemed to disappear pretty quickly and I filed them away with the rest of the great unsung bands of the 90s (GROTUS, LONG FIN KILLIE, PHLEG CAMP, etc etc). Turns out, they've been quietly pressing on as a band for quite a few years now (possibly they never even stopped?). I stumbled upon their bandcamp page the other night and there are several albums available there (including the aforementioned self-titled one from 1994). If you're into the likes of KEN MODE, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, MOGWAI then this could be for you! Here's their BANDCAMP PAGE.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Two more nominations for I DIE SMILING to be considered amongst the very BEST albums to come out last year have come trickling in!

The first comes from none other than my good friend Karol aka GARBAGEFACE (who I included in the list I posted a few weeks ago on this very site). Most of my very favourite albums of last year were put out by friends of mine actually. Nevertheless, Karl's list is very well written in that it provokes thought. Case in point, it reminded me that I hadn't checked out the BEYONCÉ album that came out all devil-may-care and shit. I like exactly HALF of it (which, for an album like that, is a grand slam). Nice one! CLICK HERE!

The 2nd mention comes via NO CLEAN SINGING guest writer ALAIN MOWER. I can only assume (but cannot confirm) that Alain wrote the extremely flattering review of my album a few months earlier when it was released. The man follows up with some short but very sweet additional praise onto my hunk of junk of an album within a collection of releases that are diverse to say the least. His opening paragraph tells me that he and I could possibly have a merry old time complaining about the worthlessness of 90% of the music that exists within the heavy metal idiom. Here's the list. CLICK HERE!